5 Student Centered Approaches to Improving School Safety

Climate Surveys

Student climate surveys are a great method for checking the pulse of your campus and keeping students safe. Many people associate climate surveys with one question: ‘Do you feel safe on campus?’ That question may be good to ask, but the survey should really tell you more about your campus.

For instance, administrators may want to know why students don’t feel safe. Wren says he wants his district’s surveys to make it clear to students that they should tell staff members if they don’t feel safe and says school officials should get creative with the questions they ask.

“I know one district that used to give a map of the school to students and say, ‘Label five areas on here where bullying takes place or that drug dealing or fights occur,’” Wren says. “That data gave the district a roadmap to figure out where there are problems in various areas.”